Public Bathing

History

In ancient times, bathing took place in one of two locations depending on the season. In warmer times, Stenza bathed in the Ice Flats, always careful to avoid where pups had been birthed (where they were said to be "resting"). In colder times, when they were driven south, they encountered a series of lakes along their migration routes, which they used for this purpose when they weren't frozen solid (the frozen ones were used for Ice Dancing).
However, as Stenza settlements grew into cities of varying degrees of prominence and architecture evolved, they got the idea to bring these lakes to them year round. Technically an impossible feat, they came close with the concept of the bathhouse. The pools within would be modeled after each lake they knew of, and the space would be as open as possible to keep the sense that nothing has changed in the sphere of bathing (except half-assed attempts at walls). It is said that within the main settlement of each clan, the layout of the bathhouse is reflective of which lakes the members of the clan encountered first historically, and were mapped in a spiral pattern leading to the center (almost always a representation of the Ice Flats themselves; this pool is particularly shallow and designed specifically with pups in mind.)
The creation of the semi-enclosed space is credited with creating a sense of liminality in the Stenza mind, hence the cultural push to keep everything light in tone and easygoing. Some speculate that too much interpersonal energy can damage anything from the space itself to individuals within the space, sometimes including pups and sometimes not, depending on who is asked. Still, best to play it safe.

Execution

The bathhouse is meant to have an easy, relaxed atmosphere, and so it is governed by its own type of etiquette. While people gathered there are encouraged to socialize and engage in small talk, anything which escalates (in either direction, to a fight or to something intimate) should be taken elsewhere. This is encouraged by peers, often shuffling the parties involved out of the bathhouse proper so that their particular issues may be settled. This may be accompanied by comments from other patrons at the bathhouse.
Social barriers within Stenza society are porous at best, but within the bathhouse, they dissolve completely. Ranked officers and citizen-recruits socialize as if they were Blood Siblings, and any thoughts of dating "out of one's league" disappear completely here.
There are two notable exceptions to the above. The first is pups, who are always wherever they want to be at any given moment, and their appearance in a bathhouse changes nothing about how they are treated socially (although if anything, people become more alert; pups, in their adventurousness, could drown). The second is the bathhouse onboard The Lawgiver within the Leader's Quarters, which is treated as a private space and "invitation only" at best.
The interior of the bathhouse contains a series of pools modeled after lakes encountered by the Stenza on their yearly journeys. These pools contain a blend of water mixed with a formula of the Ice Flats Substance designed to promote general cleanliness. The mixture contains and supports the growth of a bacteria species which is known for eating the dirt and grime off of Stenza skin, although excess members of these cultures must be filtered out to maintain the system. Almost always they are recycled into something else, such as Medical Gel.

Primary Related Location

Mudewei